The Life of a Female Sailor: Britney's Tale
by DamonandBritneySalvatore4ever
Summary: Britney MacDonald has always dreamt of serving in His Majesty's Navy. Her dream comes true with Captain Keene accepts her aboard his ship the HMS Justinian. Join Britney as she makes her way to the top of her career, makes friends and finds love she never expected.
1. Boarding The HMS Justinian

**The Life of a Female Sailor**

**By: BritneyandHarryPotterForever**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Horatio Hornblower. I only own Britney MacDonald and her parents. This is my first attempt a writing a Fanfic. Please read, review and let me know if I should continue.

**Chapter One:**

**Boarding the HMS Justinian**

Britney MacDonald stands on the dock, waiting patiently for the jollyboat that will take her to her new life aboard the HMS Justinian. She has always dreamt of standing in the rigging feeling the wind in her hair just as she has always dreamt of being a sailor serving in His Majesty's Navy fighting for her country and King that she loves.

Ever since she was a little girl, she vowed she would become a sailor if it were the last thing she did with her life. On occasion, she would go to the library in search of books about sailing ships. Once she had even taken a class on sailing to learn of the different types of ships and what other information she could find pertaining to how they operated.

She wanted to prove to the captain and her shipmates that she is a hardworking woman lieu of some damsel in distress who can't pull her own weight. She wants to prove she can do the work required of her without question, and become a proficient sailor in His Majesty's Navy. She will prove she can work hard on such tasks as properly loading as well as firing a cannon, making repairs to damaged sails and whatever other duties that would be expected of a sailor.

Back to the present, Britney picks up her dunnage and boards the jollyboat that will take her to the Justinian. As soon as she gets settle into the boat, the two women begin to row toward the ship. She is nervous but excited about meeting the captain and her soon to be shipmates. She can scarce believe her dream of becoming the first female sailor in history is finally coming true. She had worked all her life to save up for this and is determined not to messed it up or be sent home in disgrace. She will prove to everyone she can handle the hard labor and she firmly believes she will have her chance to shine in the eyes of her captain and her shipmates.

At the entry port of the ship stands Midshipman Archie Kennedy waiting for the new arrival coming aboard. As soon as he sees the boat approaching he shouts "shore boat, ahoy" and one of the women rowing the boat shouts back "aye, aye". Britney looks up at her new home away from home. When the boat arrived at the entry port of the ship, Britney looks up at the Midshipman waiting to welcome her aboard, he tells her "Jump". You'll be all right".

She grabs her dunnage and climbs aboard the ship. Midshipman Kennedy grabs her hand over the railing and helps her aboard. She lands on the deck with her dunnage in hand as she looks around the ship in awe and can't help but smile in satisfaction at the beauty and the size of it.

She turns back to Midshipman Kennedy who smiles at her and says" Welcome to purgatory" and she smiles back at him. He then proceeds to take her to the Lieutenant of the watch to introduce herself.

"Mister Chadd, sir," says Mr. Kennedy. Lieutenant Chadd turns around to greet the new midshipman come aboard.

"Come aboard, sir," says Britney. "Your name," asks Lieutenant Chadd. "Britney MacDonald, Midshipman," replies Britney.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss MacDonald," replies Lieutenant Chadd. "I'm Lieutenant Chadd, Lieutenant of the watch." He informs her smiling.

She puts her dunnage down on the deck and shakes hands with Lieutenant Chadd.

"I'm pleased to make yours, sir." She informs him smiling.

"I see you brought your dunnage aboard with you"

"Yes sir, indeed I have."

"I'll see that it gets sent below to the midshipman's berth".

"Captain Keene will require your presence, momentarily".

"Aye, aye, sir." She responds and salutes Lieutenant Chadd before allowing Mr. Kennedy to escort her to the midshipman's berth to shred her coat and locate her hammock before she readies herself to meet the captain.

A seaman brings her dunnage into the Midshipman's berth and he assists her by storing it, then when she is settled in Mr. Kennedy then escorts her to the captain's cabin.


	2. Introductions and getting settle

They arrive at Captain Keene's cabin and Mr. Kennedy knocks on the door.

The captain calls out "Come!" and Mr. Kennedy motions for her to go inside the room.

She enters the captain's cabin and closing the door behind her and presents herself to the captain.

"Britney MacDonald." Midshipman, come aboard sir." She replies, standing at attention and offering him a well-practiced salute.

"So Miss MacDonald, you want to make a life in His Majesty's Navy, do you?"

"Yes Sir." She responds, trying not to let her nervousness show. "I've been preparing myself for the hard work and hard labor." "I will pull my weight, without question." "No fooling around, sir."

"Being a Midshipman is more than just the hard labor, Miss MacDonald." Captain Keene tells her, bluntly. "You will have to gain the respect of the men working under your command."

"I'm here to work hard and prove that I am a capable sailor as well as a Midshipman." She replies, confidently.

"Very well Miss MacDonald." The Captain finally responds. "I have looked over your credentials and I find them quite impressive."

"Thank you sir."

"You went out of your way to prepare yourself to become the first woman sailor in History."

"Yes sir." Britney answers.

"Very well." Says Captain Keene. "I will give you a chance to prove yourself to me as well as the other men on board."

Britney nods.

Captain Keene turns back to look at her. "I'll give you two weeks to see if you're fit for a career in His Majesty's Navy." He informs her, looking her in the face. "If by that time, myself and the other Officers are not satisfactory with your performance, you will be asked to leave." "Is this in any way unclear?"

"No sir." Britney replies, swallowing.

"Very well." Says Captain Keene "As long as you do your duty, no harm will come to you."

She nods and the captain dismisses her, telling her to send Mr. Kennedy in for a moment.

She leaves the captain's cabin and tells Mr. Kennedy the Captain wishes to see him. Mr. Kennedy enters the Captain's quarters.

"You wish to see me sir"

"Yes Mr. Kennedy please have a blanket put up for Miss MacDonald so she can have some privacy." "Aye, aye sir" Mr. Kennedy salutes the captain and exits the cabin.

Upon his exit, he escorts her back to the midshipman's berth to introduce her to her fellow shipmates. As Mr. Kennedy escorts her through the ship, she notices it is very loud and noisy and the seamen are drinking and animals are aboard including women and their fooling around and the smell is unbearable. This isn't what she expected to see on a supervised ship with a good captain.

They arrive back at the midshipman's berth and she notices her fellow shipmates at the table talking, eating, playing cards.

She follows Mr. Kennedy to the table and he introduced her as the new midshipman come aboard. One of the Midshipmen with light blonde hair and piercing blue eyes looks her up and down sending alarm bells off in her head as she takes an involuntary step backwards.

Britney and Archie find an empty space at the table and she sits down beside Archie to get acquainted with her fellow Midshipmen. Her fellow Midshipmen are introduced as Mr. Clayton, Mr. Horatio Hornblower, Mr. Hether, Mr. Cleveland, Mr. Archie Kennedy and the blonde sinister looking one she finds is called Mr. Jack Simpson.

Britney decides she likes Clayton, Hether, Cleveland, Hornblower and Archie, but something about Mr. Simpson bothers her in a very bad way.

While Mr. Clayton gets her a plate and something to drink, Simpson is eyeing her as though she is some kind of a dog. Their eyes meet and he's making her even more uncomfortable.

"What was your name again?" Asks Simpson.

She hesitates at first and then replies barely managing to control her trembling voice. "Britney MacDonald, sir."

Britney is relieved when Clayton hands her a plate of food and her drink, grateful she has somewhere else to fix her attentions.

Simpson leers at her and she feels his gaze fixed on her, making it rather difficult to swallow her supper despite Mr. Kennedy briefly giving her arm a reassuring squeeze just out of Simpson's line of sight.

She has no idea what she has stepped into. Everybody at the table is concerned as to whether Britney might become yet another victim to Simpson's cruelty.

Britney continues to eat her dinner unaware that her life will become hell in the next few days.

Simpson remains watching her while she eats.

In the next few days he is determined to see that this woman learns her place or she will pay the consequences.

In time, she will learn who senior officer of this mess and this ship is, just as every other Midshipmen in the berth had.

Will Britney be able to survive the wrath of Simpson or will she regret entering the Navy?

As she continues to eat her dinner and get to know her shipmates, she notices that the atmosphere in the midshipman's berth is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

She wonders if it is because of Midshipman Simpson. She notices some bruises on Midshipman Hornblower face and wonders if he is all right, so she puts down her fork and turns toward him and asks him.

"Are you all right, Mr Hornblower?" Britney asks.

"Why do you ask, Miss MacDonald?"

"The bruises on your face, sir".

"Oh, I missed my footing in the dark and fell".

"Oh."

Britney doesn't believe a word out of his mouth and wonders what going on. Simpson continues to leer at her and doesn't like her asking question. She opens her mouth to ask if he was in a fight, but Mr. Kennedy puts a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from asking anymore question and quietly tells her to leave it be. She complies with his wishes, picks her fork back up, and continues to finish her dinner all the while trying to figure out what's going on.

After everyone has settled down in the midshipman's berth, it was time to go to sleep for the night to prepare for tomorrow duties. While Britney finishes her dinner and her drink, Mr Kennedy gets up from the table after finishing his supper and drink to get a blanket to hang up for Miss MacDonald to separate the midshipman's berth and to also to give her privacy for dressing.

After Britney finishes up her dinner too, Mr. Kennedy comes back into the Midshipman's berth with her blanket in hand and she gets up to help him hang it up in front of her hammock, then when the blanket is up she thanks Mr. Kennedy and then she goes behind her curtain to get ready for bed while feeling Jack Simpson eyes upon her back and can't help but shiver at his intense glaze lock on her.

She has a bad feeling about him and for some reason can't seem to shake it. She also notices that everyone is not so cheerily around here. She wonders what Simpson has done to these men to make them so scared of him. After everyone has settled in for the night, Britney lies awake in her hammock to think why Simpson rubs her the wrong way.

As she starts to drift off to sleep, she's awaken by a scream from one of the midshipmen and she gets out her hammock to investigate to see Archie conversing on the floor. She goes to help hold him still along with Clayton and Horatio. She hears Simpson complaining loudly about being woken up.

She takes a hold of Archie and tries to calm him down by assuring him that it's a nightmare and that he's safe all the while keep an eye on Simpson as he watches the display. Archie finally calms down as Britney, Clayton and Horatio pick him up and put him back into his hammock. Clayton and Horatio go back to their hammocks as Britney leans over Archie leaving a small kiss on his forehead and covers him back up as Simpson watches her go back behind her curtain. Britney climbs back into her hammock and goes back to sleep to ready herself for tomorrow duties.


	3. Simpson's order for Miss MacDonald

The next morning, Britney is awakened by a hand shaking her shoulder. She opens her eyes to see Midshipman Archie Kennedy standing over her with his hand on her shoulder.

Archie, seeing her awake removes his hand from her shoulder and says, "Time to get up, Miss MacDonald, your breakfast is waiting for you on the table."

Britney sits up in her hammock wiping the sleep from her eyes and getting her bearings together. She turns to Mr. Kennedy and asks, "What time is it?"

"It's 8 bells Miss MacDonald." He informs her.

"Thank you, Mr. Kennedy." Britney replies while smiling at him.

"Your welcome." Archie replies while smiling back at her. Satisfied she is awake; he leaves through the curtain and goes back to the table to finish his breakfast.

Britney seeing Archie leave, pulls her blanket off, gets out of her hammock, and places her feet on the cold floorboards causing chills to go throughout her body. She makes her way over to her dunnage; she squats down in front of it, opens it and gets out her uniform and her necessities. She closes her dunnage back, locking it and goes back behind her curtain to get ready for the day.

After getting herself looking presentable, she makes her way to the table to eat her waiting breakfast. As soon as she finds a available space at the table by Archie, she sits down next to him as he places her food and drink in front of her and she begins to eat politely nodding as her shipmates offer her a good morning while ignoring Simpson's haunting glaze upon her.

While she is eating Britney sneaks a look at Archie, relieved to see he looks well rested after last night's fit.

Simpson turns to her and says in his sly taunting voice "You look well rested, Miss MacDonald. "I do hope Mr. Kennedy didn't cause you any loss of sleep last night by howling loud enough to wake the dead in addition to everyone else on this ship."

Britney notices Archie has gone still beside her and is blankly staring down at his plate. She decides to defend Archie. "I slept just fine Mr. Simpson;" She tells him acidly. "I don't worry about losing sleep like some people at this table, sir."

She pauses a moment before meeting Simpson's stare with one of her own stating, "I daresay sir you could likely use a few more hours of beauty sleep" Britney response to Simpson surprising herself by what she had said, but she hates it when people hurt her friend's feelings and she is determined to help them out the best way she can. Simpson just glares at her, grinding his teeth in agitation at what she has said to him.

Britney calmly goes back to her breakfast, not wanting to show her nervousness after insulting Simpson for making fun of Archie's affliction.

Everyone at the table is surprise by her response to Simpson's question especially Archie and Horatio who both look a little bit pale.

Britney feeling his glowering stare does not look back at him. She returns her attention to her breakfast, despite the fact that the food has become dry as dust in her mouth.

The other Midshipmen around the table seem almost impressed by her toughness and have started to think she might be able to handle Simpson's brutally after all. She seems like a rather tough girl who appears to be able to hold her own against any man in this berth.

Oblivious of Simpson's plans for her today, Britney continues to force down her food. Simpson continues to watch her eat, through narrowed eyes, thinking of the perfect way to bring her to his knees.

He laughs to himself as the images of what he will do to her, comes to his mind. She will finally learn whose is in charge around here eventually, just as the others had.

After breakfast, the Midshipmen around the table stand up to go about their duties for the day.

As Britney sets foot on deck, she looks around in awe at the beautiful day that has been set upon her for the day's work and she discovers it's not really cold out here. It's the perfect day to get started on her orders.

She sees seamen on deck going about their duties also. As soon as she gets halfway up on deck, she hears somebody calling "Miss MacDonald" as she turns around to see a seaman in the ratlines, and she says "yes" letting the seaman know that he has her attention.

"Mr Eccleston requested that you assist him in the fighting top."

"The fighting top?" asks Britney, frowning.

"Aye miss, at once he said."

The seaman climbs back down to the deck going back to his duties.

Britney looks up at the long climb and is excited to get to work on her first order. She walks over to the ropes, taking in a deep breath and starts climbing to the fighting top as ordered to help Lieutenant Eccleston unaware that Simpson had the men in his division give the false order to her from him.

When she was a little girl, she had climbed trees around her home to better strengthen her muscles and make herself more stronger and more agile to climbing the rigging on ships without difficulty. As she is making her way up to the fighting top, one of the ratlines she steps up on rips loose, causing her to hold onto the ropes for dear life.

She looks up at the fighting top to see how much farther she has to climb when the face of Jack Simpson appears above her from the wood planks of the fighting top. He looks down, taking notice of her predicament, smiling in glee that his plan had succeeded. He makes his way down the ratlines and asks in a taunting voice "Not afraid of heights are you, Miss MacDonald?" "Mind you… It's a mighty long drop."

Britney looks up at Simpson as he climbs down to her and tells him "Nope, I'm not afraid of heights, Mr. Simpson, I love the view up here."

"Well I hope you enjoy it for the rest of the day." He retorts, obviously not believing her.

She looks at him, wondering what that's supposed to mean. Deciding to just ignore it, she remembers instead the order that had brought her up here. "You mind giving me a hand up; I need to get into the fighting top as ordered."

He just laughs at her and continues down the ropes not bothering to help her, nor does he comment on the order she is supposed to be following.

She continues to watch Simpson climb down the rope in shock at his behavior toward her, amazed he would do such a thing with Eccleston only above them.

Once Simpson makes it back onto deck, he looks up at Britney still hanging onto the ropes and says, "Have fun up there" as he heads back to the Midshipman's berth.

Britney still in the rigging looks above, not seeing anyone else on the fighting top at all. She clenches her teeth, realizing Eccleston is either not there, having sent Simpson instead, or he did not give the order for her to attend him. "That good for nothing excuse for a man." She mutters, shaking her head. "What to do now, Britney," she asks herself inwardly. "I've got to find a way to get back down onto the deck without breaking my neck or killing myself in the process on my second day in the Navy."

"I have to get down before the Captain or anybody else sees me stuck up here in the rigging and think that I can't due a simple order like climb." And when she reaches the deck, she decides she's going straight to Eccleston.

After some deep thinking, she looks down at the deck to where she is judging the distance and starts sliding back down onto the deck in one piece. The seamen on deck below looks up at her in awe as she makes her way back down the rigging with no difficulties. She breathes a sigh of relief at her near death experience. Britney then makes her way over to the seamen on deck. "Gentlemen, you need to go fix the rope before somebody else gets hurt."

"Aye miss," replies one of the seamen as he salutes her and goes to fix the broken rope in the rigging as ordered.

Walking around on deck, Britney spots Lieutenant Eccleston and approaches him to ask why he's isn't in the fighting top where she was order to go. "Sir" she called to him.

"Yes Miss MacDonald, what may I help you with?" asks Lieutenant Eccleston.

"Why aren't you in the fighting top, sir, you order me to go up there to help?" Britney asks him.

Mr. Eccleston frowns at her in confusion. "That order didn't come from me, Miss MacDonald." He tells her pointedly. "I've been on watch." "Who gave you that order Miss MacDonald?"

"One of the seamen said that you needed attending on the fighting top and I was to come at once, sir." She explains.

Lieutenant Eccleston looks over to the seamen and notices that they are men in Simpson's division just as Britney herself realizes her suspicions had been correct. Simpson is trying to make it look like she does what she pleases without orders.

"Miss MacDonald, I believe it's best that you don't pay attention to any order coming from Simpson's division, on mine, nor any other senior Officer's behalf unless we tell you personally. "Mr. Simpson generally tries to cause trouble by leading on the new Midshipmen, and its best you don't become involved in his games, not the best way to impress the Captain or your shipmates is it?" Eccleston finishes.

"No sir, it won't happen again sir."

"Very good Miss MacDonald. Carry on."

"Sir, I had one of the seamen fix a rope up there in the rigging that gave way as I step on it."

"Good foresight, Miss MacDonald, we can't afford accident in the Navy."

"Thank you sir," Britney replies beaming with joy on the inside at having done a good deed that will undo her bad move.

"You'd best get below and start studying your sailing navigation skills, because the captain will be giving a lesson shortly." Eccleston suggests.

"Aye aye, sir." She replies and salutes the Lieutenant, before making her way to the Midshipman's berth. She arrives at Midshipman's berth and starts toward her dunnage to get her quill, some paper and her book to start studying for her upcoming lesson.

After retrieving her items, she closes her dunnage back up and locks it up again before making her way to the table. When she arrives at the table to find a seat, she sees all the midshipmen in the berth studying except Simpson and is doing everything she can to not lash out at him for almost messing up her chance to be a sailor. Lieutenant Eccleston is right she thought to herself, your career is so much more important to get involved with a lowlife like him. She finally finds a place in between Archie and Horatio, sits down, places her items on the table, opens her book, and begins her studying.

When Simpson finally notices her presence, he says, "I see you made it down from the rigging in one piece, did you enjoy the view from up there?"

"No thanks to you Mr. Simpson and as a matter of fact, I did enjoy the view from up there, sir."

"What are those books for?" He presses, ignoring her obvious defiance.

"I'm studying for the lesson the Captain is giving in an hour, which is what you should be doing sir."

"Maybe I could study with you, Miss MacDonald?" Simpson suggests, not even blinking.

"Nope, sorry Simpson, I study alone." Unable to resist speaking her mind, she puts down her pen and looks up at Simpson and says, "I do have a question for you, though Mr. Simpson."

Jack gives her his full attention and motions for her to go on and ask.

"Who died and made you Captain of this ship?"

Simpson doesn't answer her question and just smiles at her in his way.

"I don't take orders from you sir and I never will. You'll never be the boss of me, sir." Britney goes back to her studying ignoring Simpson's piercing glaze.

Simpson looks at her and lowers his voice with a cold smile. "Oh really, Miss MacDonald, we'll just have to see about that won't we?"

Everybody at the table looks up from their books and begins to worry about when Simpson will make his move. After a few minutes go by, the others go back to studying in silence, dreading what would certainly happen eventually.

They're hoping and praying, she survives the brutal beating Simpson has in stored for her.


	4. Sailing lessonsBritney's first warning

When an hour came, the other Midshipmen in the berth put up their books and proceeded back onto the deck to get ready for their sailing navigation lesson. Britney gets up from the table, goes back to her dunnage, opens it back up to put her items back inside, closes it back up, and locks it up. She follows Archie and Horatio out of the Midshipman's Berth to the deck to begin their sailing navigation lesson.

The other Midshipmen filed out of the Midshipman's berth to see Captain Keene setting up a chalkboard onto the deck. A man in an officer's uniform starts handing out pieces of chalk and a chalkboard to each Midshipmen as they come up to him one by one. After all the Midshipmen get their pieces of chalk and their chalkboard, then they find a place on deck and sit down.

After everyone is settled on deck, Mr. Bowles picks up the piece of chalk and puts up the problem on the board to test the Midshipmen's navigation skills. After Mr. Bowles has written the problem on the board, he turns to Midshipmen as the captain states "Gentlemen and lady you have 30 minutes to solve the problem you may begin."

Captain Keene starts his stopwatch as they begin to work on the problem. After 30 minutes are up, the Captain calls out "Time gentlemen and lady" as everyone has finish working out the problem. Britney is hoping and praying that she got the problem correct. The Captain starts with Simpson to check his answer. He picks up his chalkboard as his looks over his answer and says to him "now let's see how you fared on the problem set for you by Mr. Bowles."

As the Captain looks over Simpson's answers, Britney is surprised he did not get it right. The Captain continues down the line checking the rest of the Midshipmen's chalkboard and she is surprise none of them got it right except Midshipman Hornblower. As the captain makes his way to her, she picks her chalkboard and hands it to the captain.

She is surprised that she actually got the problem correct along with Hornblower. She and Mr. Hornblower are successfully alone in their career as a Midshipman as well as a sailor and they will go far. It looks like those hours of studying finally paid off. Even the Captain is impressed with her and Hornblower's correct answers. Simpson just leers at her and Hornblower from his place on deck. Simpson is very angry with her for showing him up in front of the Captain. He also very angry with Mr. Hornblower for trying to protect her.

It is finally time for her to learn her place on this ship. After he finishes with her, he will have a little chat with Mr. Hornblower about trying to protect her. After Captain Keene informs Mr. Bowles to make sure Simpson attends to his studies as well as the other men, the captain dismisses the Midshipmen by saying "Good day gentlemen and lady." The Captain returns back to his cabin and Mr. Bowles collects all of the chalkboards from each Midshipmen as they all filed back into the Midshipman's Berth.

Simpson returns to his room to get his whip and removes his jacket and put up his hat, as do the other Midshipmen except Britney and Archie who lay their hats on the table beside them. They all return to the table, settling back down and back to talking and playing cards. Britney sits down next to Archie as he pulls out a book of Shakespeare's plays. Britney has always loved his work, so she peers over Archie's shoulder to read along with him.

Everybody is worried about where Simpson has gone to and wonders if he is about to cause more trouble for the female sailor. Their suspicions come to life when Simpson returns back into the Midshipman's Berth with his whip in hand.

He sits down next to Mr. Hornblower and states, "I've been thinking gentlemen and lady that it's time to revisit the proceedings of the inquisition." "I wonder who I should interrogate this time," he continues looking at Britney.

Finally, Simpson states, "I know just the one, the Captain's new favorite of course". Everyone around the table holds their breath as they look over at him as he states "MacDonald." Britney looks over at Simpson wondering what he is about to do to her. Simpson orders Hether and Cleveland to clear the table and bring Britney onto the table while they hold her down so Simpson can find out her deepest darkest secret.

Before Hether and Cleveland do as Simpson asks, they both try to stop Simpson from harming her as he gets up from the table with whip in hand. Simpson turns to them and yells, "do it unless you want to take her place." Knowing that there is nothing they can do, Hether and Cleveland clear off the table and pull Miss MacDonald onto her stomach holding her down as she protested, "let me go." Simpson whips her on her behind telling her "be quiet."

All the Midshipmen in the Berth just stand back and watch in horror, as Britney becomes yet another victim to Simpson. Hopefully she will forgive them in time for not helping her out. Simpson then tells Hether and Cleveland to turn her over onto her back. Now Britney is terrified, she is afraid that Simpson might rape her or worse. She does not understand what is about to happen and is hurt that none of her friends are trying to stop him.

While Simpson is leaning over her, she can feel his hot breathe on her and is disgusted. "What do you want Simpson, haven't you cause me enough trouble for one day?"

"Until you learned who runs this mess and this ship, who is also senior officer of the mess as well." "This is where I learned your deepest darkest secret." He leers at her as he says to her "You think your pretty smart showing me up in front of the Captain Keene, huh?"

"It's not my fault that you didn't study your mathematics." She tells him pointedly. "If you spend less time playing around and making people's life hell, you might actually become an excellent sailor in His Majesty's Navy."

"Oh really, Miss MacDonald." "I could care less about being a sailor in His Majesty's Navy."

"If you don't want to be here, then I suggest you leave, sir." "No sense in making the rest of us miserable."

"Quiet now, this is my show." Simpson orders. "As I was saying before I was interrupted, you will follow my rules or face the consequence."

While Britney is lying on the table, Simpson sees her necklace around her neck, tares it off as Britney watches him spin it around, and says, "Is your secret that you are fancier of others girls or it is that your mother made her living on her back." This makes Britney really angry and she suddenly begins to feel stronger and says to Simpson" You bastard" before she head butts him causing Hether and Cleveland to let go of her arms as she slides down the table.

Before Simpson can get a hit on her, she ducks out of his visual eye site. Simpson gets up from his place where he landed on the floor where she head butted him to see where she went. "Where are you, you little coward, show yourself." Simpson asks when Britney comes up behind him and taps him on the shoulder.

He turns around to see Britney as she brings her fist up and hits him in the face causing him to fall back down. All the Midshipmen in the Berth are quite shock at what she did. Everyone in the berth is silent as they wait for Simpson's next move. Britney takes a fighting stance, waiting for Simpson as well.

Simpson gets back up and advances on her, taking her down. Britney and Simpson duel it out on the floor. They continue to fight as Simpson slams her head onto the table several times knocking her out as Hether and Cleveland try in vain to get Simpson away from her. Simpson lays Britney's limp form on the floor and kicks her in the shins several times. After Simpson backs off a little, Britney awakes feeling like her head is exploding on the inside. Hether and Cleveland try in vain to warn her to stay down before she gets hurt further. "Stay down if you know what's good for you."

Ignoring their words Britney looks up to see Simpson standing up above her as she grabs him leg and pulls it causing him to lose him balance and falls back onto the floor as she beats him up. When Simpson finally gets the upper hand on her proving to be stronger then she is because of her head, Simpson whips her again and again until Clayton comes up behind him with gun in hand as he hold it up to Simpson's head stating " Stay back Jack or by God I'll trim the walls with your brains." Before Simpson takes a step back, he says "Clayton by bold friend, I have no quarrel with you."

When Jack finally steps back from beating Britney to a pulp, Clayton orders Hether and Cleveland to take Miss MacDonald to Dr. Hepplewhite. Hether and Cleveland picks up Britney's form and carry her to the Sick Berth with Archie and Horatio trailing behind them. After they have gone Simpson, then corners Clayton, throwing the gun out of his hand stating that he thinks he is pretty brave but known for coward he really is as Simpson starts beating up Clayton for stopping his beating on Britney.

After Simpson finishes with Clayton, he takes his leave and goes back to his room to put his whip up leaving Clayton alone with the other Midshipmen and his drink. Clayton finally gets up from the floor after Simpson leaves, taking his place back into his seat and starting drinking to forget what Simpson has put him through and Britney.

Back in the Sick Berth, Hether and Cleveland have drop off Britney into one of the available hammocks explaining to Doctor Hepplewhite what happen as they take their leave, leaving her alone with the Doctor to clean her up while Horatio and Archie stay to make sure their friend is okay. They feel terrible about what happen to her. If they both were stronger and braver, they could have stood up to Simpson and this would not have happened to her.

"You think she'll be okay, Horatio?" Archie asks him quietly as they both looked over at their friend. "I'm sure she will be fine, Archie." While Britney is watching the Doctor clean her up, she begins to think why this had happened to her. What did she do to deserve this? She remembers his words about being senior officer of this ship and mess. Now she knows why everyone is the way they are when he is around.

Britney looks around the sick berth to see Horatio and Archie standing by. After Doctor Hepplewhite has finish cleaning her, he goes back to his table to write down her incident and goes back to his drinking as Britney watches him thinking why is the Doctor drinking on duty. While he was patching her up, she could smell the liquid on his breath.

Horatio and Archie both walk up to her not knowing what to say to her about why they didn't try to help her. She senses their hesitation about what to say to her. She turns to them the best way she can while laying in her hammock and tries to smile at them despite the pain she in.

"I understand why you're all afraid of Simpson and why you couldn't help me."

"Were sorry you have to go through this, Britney."

She nods and smiles a little and says, "I know." Britney closes her eyes and begins to rest to allow her body to heal as Horatio and Archie make their way back to the Midshipman's Berth with no sign of Simpson there.

After everyone is settled into the berth, they all hope and pray Britney comes out of this alive and continues to serve with them. They know she has a wonderful future ahead of her and they wouldn't want her to leave because of Simpson. He certainly wasn't worth throwing away one's career over. While Britney is sleeping, Simpson comes inside the sick berth to see Doctor Hepplewhite to clean up the bruises Miss MacDonald inflected upon his face. Doctor Hepplewhite turns to Simpson asking, "What may I help you with Mr. Simpson?" Before answering the Doctor, Simpson walks over to the hammock Britney's laying in as she watches her sleeping.

Doctor Hepplewhite walks over to where Simpson is standing saying "You beat Miss MacDonald up pretty good Simpson, I don't think your have anymore problems out of her." "The little whore deserved it." When Doctor Hepplewhite looks at Simpson's face he noticing some bruises on his face. "What happen to your face?" "The little whore hit me." "Can you believe that?" "I will make her pay for hitting me."

"Come tomorrow morning Lieutenant Eccleston will want to know what happen and I'll tell them Miss MacDonald hit me for no good reason." "The Captain will surely punish her." "That's right, but how you going to explain the bruises on her face." "You know Miss MacDonald is going to tell him what you did." "If you she knows what's good for her, she will keep quiet beside she will lay up for a couple of days or weeks even." "I won't let her win." "I always win."

Doctor Hepplewhite nods. "If you will have a sit Mr. Simpson, I'll get you clean up." Simpson nods as he lays down in the next empty hammock while the Doctor gets his supplies ready and makes his way to the hammock Simpson's laying in.

While Doctor Hepplewhite is cleaning Simpson's bruises, Britney is planning on taking Simpson's down. Simpson is unaware that Britney has over heard the entire conversation going on between them. She won't let Simpson win either. If she gets in trouble for beating him up, she will make sure that Simpson goes down with her. She will make him pay for beating her up. With her plan set in motion, Britney falls back asleep with a small smile on her face, dreaming of finally taking down Simpson for good.

After Doctor Hepplewhite finishes with Simpson, he places his supplies back onto the table. Simpson gets out the hammock and looks over at Britney seeing a smile of her face wondering what she is planning. Decided to do some planning of his own just in case Miss MacDonald decides to tell the Lieutenant Eccleston or the Captain about what really happen, he turns to Doctor Hepplewhite saying "Keep a eye on her and let me know what she is planning."

"Of course Mr. Simpson." He nods to Doctor Hepplewhite and makes his way back to his room. When he arrives at his room, he opens the door and checks him reflection.

She really did a number on him, but so did I. "I just have to wait until Miss MacDonald is release from the sick berth to find out what happens next." "If Lieutenant Eccleston asks me what happen, I just tell him Miss MacDonald hit me and she will be in so much trouble." "She'll spend most of her day out of the sick berth in the rigging." Simpson laughs at the thought come into his mind. "Britney MacDonald, you will regret joining the navy." Simpson continues to laugh at Miss MacDonald's fate.

After an hour of laughing, Mr. Simpson decides this would be a good time to have chat with Mr. Hornblower about protecting that little whore. Mr. Simpson leaving his room making his way to Midshipman's Berth. All the Midshipmen in the berth look up at the sound of footsteps as they see Simpson come in and sit down beside Mr. Hornblower.

"Evening gentlemen." Simpson greets them. "Mr. Hornblower." Horatio turns to face Simpson wondering what he wants now. "Yes Mr. Simpson." "If you know what's good for you, you'll stop trying to protect Miss MacDonald or I'll just give you another beating." "Is this in anyway unclear, Mr. Hornblower?" "No sir." Horatio replies nervously. "Good." Seeing that Mr. Hornblower has been worn about protecting her from him, he leaves the Midshipman's Berth and makes his way back to his room. Simpson finally has everyone on this ship including Miss MacDonald doing what he says. This life couldn't get any better.


End file.
